Lush with US debt, and an insatiable thirst for raw materials the ‘factory floor’ of the world - China - continues to court resource-laden Africa. With a population of nearly 900 million, Africa constitutes an immense market for Chinese manufactured goods. It also provides a production platform for Chinese companies, or more precisely the Chinese government. China's policy of giving ‘no-strings-attached’ loans, however, undermines US efforts at promoting democracy on the continent. For example, Zimbabwe has the second largest platinum reserves in the world, but it is also. some might argue, home to one of the continent’s longest-serving dictators, Robert Mugabe. Because of Mugabe, the US and Europe pledged $500 million towards Zimbabwe’s recovery, a far cry from the requested $8 billion needed to bring the country back to pre-crisis output levels. Much to the West’s chagrin, China, because of its national interests in the Zimbabwe’s natural resources, and its 12 million-strong mark...
Economics, Data Science, Consulting